1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus including a storing unit for storing a recording material, and configured to perform printing by using the recording material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a printing apparatus which rotates a plurality of toner cartridges, when some toner cartridge has run out of toner, this toner cartridge is moved to a position where the user can replace the toner cartridge as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-323027.
To move a toner-out cartridge to a position where it can be replaced, the printing apparatus needs to detect a toner-out cartridge. For example, an optical sensor is used to detect remaining amount of toner in a toner cartridge, and when a cartridge that has run out of toner is detected, the cartridge is moved to its replacement position. Thus, the user can replace the toner cartridge smoothly.
However, if the accuracy of the optical sensor is insufficient, even if a toner cartridge in a toner-out state is detected, some amount of toner often remains in the cartridge enough to print a few pages. There may be some users who still want to use the toner until just before the printed characters are so thin and blurred.
Despite the fact that the user still wants to keep using the toner cartridge that is determined to be empty, if the user have to move the toner cartridge to the replacement position each time the printing apparatus has determined that the toner cartridge is out of recording material, this is inconvenient for users.